Eternal Winter
by Nisa-Chan1713
Summary: My name is Winter Jay Eternal. I live at the Eternal Family Manor, I'm twenty two and on February fourteenth I was murdered by the one I love... Ryou/OC rated for later chapters
1. Day 1

**It's me again! I have a giant reason for starting this! I'm going to speed this fanfic and have it done by Valentines day! Ten days away! One story each day hopefully! So now I won't have to worry about writing a one shot and this gives me a challenge to see how much I can write in ten days! remember R&R and here's the disclaimer! **

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh I only own Winter! **

_My name is Winter Jay Eternal, I live in the Eternal Family Manor in the middle of Ash Forest, twenty miles from Domino City. I was taught by private teachers and my family owns the graveyards in Domino and in the forest. I'm twenty two and on February fourteenth I was killed by the one I loved. _

_For almost ninety years I roamed the grounds of my former home, trying and waiting for someone too write my story. Today is February fourth and a new caretaker has taken to the house by the name of Ryou Bakura. _

_This is the story of how I woke up. This is the story of how I fell in love with the groundskeeper._

Ryou sighed as he finished unpacking, every thing from his tiny apartment had been unpacked and placed somewhere in the slightly larger two floored grounds keeper house. Technically it was one floored but there was an attic that could fit his bed and a desk with enough room to walk around in. The first floor of the house had a simple dark oak flooring and simple dark ash colored wood walls. The windows were about two feet in length and a foot in width. There was a small area by the front door where it was gray stone, where at night it was pleasantly cool, the first floor had two rooms. One was a six by six bath room with wooden flooring and the other was the main part of the first floor, the kitchen and a living room was spaced evenly apart so that maximum space could be used. In the small area of the living room there was a small stone fire place that added heat to the entire house. In the corner there was a set of simple wooden stairs leading to the attic.

The attic was his room, two windows at each end with heavy black drapes for colder nights. The bed was pushed against the wall of one side of the room with a night stand next to it that held his books and a simple lamp with an alarm clock. To the right side of the room where the stairs ended was the desk placed about three feet from the stairs so that Ryou wouldn't get hurt. Along the edge of the stair case was a wooden railing so that none may fall. There were only two lamps in the room, the other was on his desk.

Out side of the small Groundskeeper's house was a small eight by ten shed that had tools for gardening and storage. Strangely the floor of the shed was stained by something a long time ago and red paint as Ryou hoped seemed to be splattered across the wall. However if Ryou had looked closer he could have found that it was not paint but, the stain of blood that previous groundkeepers neglected to hide.

Today had been long for Ryou with the drive through a dense dark forest in the rain and the long time of unpacking and getting things for the house all set up. Looking out of the window of the small little house he now inhabited Ryou looked with soft doe brown eyes at the towering manor above made of dark oak with a roofed deck at the front of the grand manor. The roof was black slate made of the same material as the groundskeeper's roof, the manor towered with six floors the first floor containing a sitting room, a dining room, kitchen and the stairs to the cellar and the stairs to the second floor. The cellar had the power boxes and wash room where as the second floor had a library, the master study and another sitting room. The third floor had the ball room and a bathroom, fourth floor had the Master bed room and three other rooms each with a private bathroom. The fifth floor had guest rooms and a third sitting room with two other studies and then the sixth was the attic where a small wrap around deck waited with rain pelting down on the roof and a three foot tall gothic fence. Ryou would have loved to go up there but he was not allowed to go up past the fourth floor as time had eaten away at the gothic manor leaving it slightly unstable. It was his job to care for this place until someone who was in the right mind and with enough money wanted to buy the manor but, that would never happen as rumors of the manor being haunted got out quickly. This played a reason why Ryou bought the care takers house, he had always been interested in the occult and paranormal. Out of the corner of his eye Ryou thought he saw a girl in the window of the sixth floor.

Looking to his side Ryou noted that it was late and tomorrow was a big day, going into the house to inspect it and make adjustments. Sighing Ryou walked up the stairs into his room and fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow a voice whispering to him unknowingly _'Sleep well groundskeeper.' _

Ryou didn't know when he woke up but when he did there was a strange mist coming from the first floor, walking down Ryou's heart skipped a beat when he saw the outline of a figure staring out the window at the house. The figure vanished almost as soon as he saw it and the mist faded away leaving Ryou wondering what he had seen just then. With sleep nagging at his eyes Ryou flicked the strand of snow white hair out of his face as he fell asleep the rain outside becoming a thunder storm. What ever that thing on the first floor was, would have to wait till morning.

**That's this chapter so far! I hope you liked it, if there is a question about that part at the beginning PM me or Review the question and I'll answer it as soon as I can. Right now if your not sure about the era the house was built in it was built in the late Victorian Era where electricity had replaced gas so the manor and the groundskeeper's house have working lights. That's it for now Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Remember R&R! BYE!**


	2. Day 2

**Hi there! I'm Nisa-Chan and I'm back with another chapter for Eternal Winter! This makes Day 2! As I mentioned in the last chapter this will be have one chapter a day until the 14th where two chapters will be posted and this fanfic will be done! Other then that I'll be at the end of this chapter after the disclaimer remember R&R! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh I only own the plot line of this fanfiction and Winter. **

_The Eternal Family moved to Ash Woods in the late victorian era, my mother Emily Eternal was carrying twins who would be named Celia and Winter. My father was Victor Eternal he owned the land where graveyards were built with my grandfather Ethan Eternal who was a retired ship captain, my grandmother Erin was helping with my mother while my elder siblings, Allan, Edgar, Vertigo and Mandy played and attended private tutoring. I was born on February 5th at twelve pm during a thunder storm, the day my mother died. _

Ryou sat up and stood up from bed, he had forgotten about the events of last night as if it were a dream you thought you had. Walking down to the first floor Ryou stepped with his bundle of clothing into the small bathroom and turned the shower knobs till the water was perfect. He then stripped down and stepped into the warm water as an image came into his head _It was a thunderstorm, I ran through the forest blindly, rain and fog blinding my path as a gunshot rang through the air behind m- _Ryou jumped back and gasped staring down at the porcelain floor of the shower. He turned the shower off and stepped out drying himself off and looked in the steamed mirror above the sink. "What was that?" He asked himself before shrugging it off and pulling a thick blue sweater over the white button up top and faded blue jeans he had on already.

Walking out of the bathroom Ryou watched as the steam from the shower rolled around the room similar to the fog last night. He shrugged the thought off again and began to work on the task at hand, getting into the manor to make adjustments. After a quick breakfast of Tea and toast Ryou pulled on his red converse and looked out the window, there was a light rain outside as he reached for the dark green rain jacket that hung on a hat rack at the side of the door along with the old keys to the manor that hung on a hook by the door. Sliding into his jacket Ryou stepped out into the light rain as a light mist circled his feet while he closed and locked the heavy oak door. Turning around Ryou began walking on a muddy path towards the front of the house, had he looked up at the window on the sixth floor Ryou would have seen the same girl from last night. He didn't look up even once until he was under the safety of the roof on the deck.

Using the keys was easy as they were all labeled to each door they would unlock. Stepping into the manor Ryou looked around, the entrance hall had portraits of the family that once lived in this very manor. With out knowing Ryou walked down the hallway and read the names aloud of the portraits on the walls.

The was an old woman with her white hair braided to the side with piercing blue eyes, "Erin Eternal." Ryou whispered as he moved on. Next to her was an elder man with long white hair pulled back into a loose hair tie he had muddled vermilion eyes, "Ethan Eternal" Ryou whispered again as he named the woman with black hair and brown eyes that sat tall wearing a dark blue dress "Emily Eternal". A light wind came from behind as mist from the rain came in to the manor. Ryou ignored this and continued.

There were two boys, one looked as if he was in his late teens with black hair and brown eyes "Edgar Eternal." the other was in his early teens was a ginger with brown eyes "Allan Eternal." The next picture had a man with long black hair that had gray hair streaks making it look sort of like a skunk tail had the same muddled vermilion eyes as Ethan. Ryou stepped back as the feeling of anger was around him, "That must be Victor Eternal." Ryou said as he moved to the next three.

There was a girl in her late teens with blackish brown hair and brown eyes who wore a blue victorian dress, "Vertigo Eternal." Then there was the painting of an other girl in her late teens who's hair was ginger and had muddled vermilion eyes she had an arrogant feel to her face and the way she wore the dark green victorian dress, "Celia Eternal.".

Next to Celia there was the portrait of a girl in her late childhood with black hair and vermilion eyes, "Mandy Eternal." Ryou walked to the next one as a voice from before whispered in his mind "Winter." The girl in the portrait had pale blond hair that curled at the end, milky skin and the same piercing blue eyes as Erin. She wore a black victorian dress and had a look on her face that reminded him of a kind girl willing to help. She was in her late teens. "Winter Jay Eternal." Ryou said as he noticed that she was the only one that had blond hair and blue eyes, was she the black sheep of the family?

Ryou took a step back and the thought exploded in his head, they all died on the same day, same year. "Why is that?" Ryou asked himself as he turned away from the portraits and went to close the door to the manor and get to work.

As the day wore on the rain eventually stopped and Ryou had found that the lights were not working, there were about fifty windows that leaked and made water damage, mold was in the corners of the celling in some rooms and the manor needed a dusting. It would take a few weeks before the rain stopped so Ryou could fix the lights along with the water damage and the mold. For now he started on sweeping years of dust and dirt off the floor and surfaces, within three hours Ryou had filled two and a half garbage bags with just dirt and dust which he planed to use in the garden come spring. He was about to go to the fifth floor when he remembered he wasn't allowed up there. Sighing Ryou walked back to the lower floors and ended up mopping the ball room up, when he was finished with mopping and dusting and polishing the ball room windows Ryou walked out and sighed inwardly at the sight of one of the bags ripped open. "Is anyone there?" Ryou asked aloud before he could stop himself. _I'm here_ a voice whispered from nowhere as Ryou jumped and backed into the wall, where did that voice come from? Who did it come from? Ryou stood and began cleaning up the dirt and dust spilled all over the floor as the sun outside hit twilight, that's when he noticed what the house was like. The floors were made out of dark stained Ash wood besides the ball room that had mother of pearl flooring, the walls were blue in the third floor hallway and the sunlight coming from the wall of windows in the ball room made the manor look as if it was alive and moving. He hadn't noticed that while cleaning the ball room, why did he notice it now?

The sun dipped below the horizon as Ryou dragged all the cleaning supplies from the manor to the shed outside, the rain had made the ground muddy and wet as puddles were scattered across the lawn. Once everything was in the shed Ryou locked the shed and then the Manor before heading back to the groundskeeper's home unlocking the door and stepping into the cold house. He shivered and looked at the fireplace, he had some matches somewhere around here. Ryou placed some logs on the fire as he searched for paper and the matches, once he found the paper Ryou set it down on the logs and went into the kitchen to search for the matches. Digging through on of the drawers Ryou felt paper on the back of his hand as he drew it back, something was taped to the top of the drawer. Feeling for the paper Ryou found it and pulled it out of the drawer, an old news paper article of some sort. Just as Ryou looked up the matches were in front of him on the counter, how did he miss that? Picking up the box Ryou walked towards the fire place and lit one of the corners of paper on fire and the logs caught to as a pleasant warmth filled the room quickly. Not to hot not to cold, Ryou sat back on to one of the dark blue couches staring at the fire happily. He remembered before the accident Ryou and his sister Amane along with his parents would light a fire each night and watch it bonding with each other but, then those memories seemed like dreams after the crash took both Amane and his Mothers life. After that his father sent him away to live at Domino where he made some friends but, now even they weren't around much any more with work and college alike. Ryou was in college a few weeks ago, he wanted to become an Archeologist but, the memories of the spirit of the ring were to painful and he quit after three years. He sat up, why was he thinking about this right now? He should be thinking about the news article he found, speaking of which, he pulled that out of his pocket and the title aloud. "Eternal Murder Case Closed.". Ryou read the title over and over, the text underneath was to faded for him to read in this light so he folded it up, put the fire out and walked up stairs placing the article on his desk and changed into a pair of pajamas and fell to sleep in his bed still wondering what was the Eternal Murder Case.

**That's the end of this chapter! I hope you liked it, I worked harder on this one to get more words in and make the story a little more interesting. How ever I do wonder what the Eternal Murder Case is, what do you think? Well next chapter will be posted tomorrow remember R&R! BYE!**


	3. Day 3

**Hey! Nisa-Chan's here again back with day three of Eternal Winter! In the last chapter Ryou worked on cleaning the manor and found an old article with the heading of "Eternal Muder Case Closed!" what will happen to Ryou now? What happened at Eternal Manor! Oh the suspense! We have to find out in this chapter! Right after reading the disclaimer! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh I only own Winter! **

_The night my mother died was the night of my and Celia's birth. Years had passed since then and Mandy died of cancer at the age of nine, four years had taken their toll on her. Now father wants to marry Celia and I off, strange, ever since mom died he's treated everyone but me the same. He's treated me as if I was lower than Celia. Is it because of my hair? Am I shunned because of my hair? Am I the black sheep of the family? Today a man came to the manor, one of father's suitors? I'm not sure at all but, now I don't feel that safe anymore. Oh mother, wont you protect your daughter from all harm? Wont you accept me? _

Ryou's eyes snapped open, things were feeling strange now. At first when he moved in he didn't feel anything but, now he feels as if someone is constantly watching him. He turned his head to the side and looked at his desk, the article was still there but, there was a paper lying there that wasn't there before. One of his pens was neatly next to it at a closer inspection. Ryou stood and walked over to the desk, picking up the paper he found that something had written on it in a neat scrawl.

_Dearest GroundsKeeper, _

_ You require answers, I require help. Second floor, Library, back shelf black leather bound book. _

_-I'll be there... Winter. _

Ryou screamed and dropped the paper stepping back and falling on his butt at the sight of what the letter was written in... blood. Why? Who was sick enough to write in blood! The pen that was next to the paper wasn't working and there was blood on the tip. Ryou started gasping as the tears came, sometimes when he saw blood all he could remember was the pain he felt when he saw Amane and his mother's body before they were both buried, he could remember the pain his Yami put him though. He hated blood. Who was sick enough to write a letter to him in blood and leave it there! "WHO ARE YOU!" Ryou screamed at the air as he dove under the covers of his bed for another few hours. The desk chair moved across the floor and the desk moved with it the pen dripped blood onto the floor as the note shredded to bits by itself. This went on for an hour before a voice shouted "STOP!" and then "Allan!" as foot steps stomped up and down the stairs, the furniture went back to where it was and the air went still. Ryou stayed frozen for another hour in fear.

When he finally came out Ryou ignored the shredded note and took the folded article placing it in the pocket of his tan pants as he pulled a red yarn sweater over another white button up shirt. He needed to talk to someone, picking up his Iphone he almost never uses, Ryou dialed the number he could trust to answer.

_Rinnnggggggg. _

There was a pause before the phone was picked up, "Yo Bakura! Haven't heard from you in a while! What's up?" Malik's voice came from the other end. "Malik." Ryou managed to say into the phone before bursting into tears "Malik I'm scared." Ryou said as he sunk to the floor. "What happened!" Malik half shouted half asked as Ryou tried calming down, "I-I-I can't say it!" Ryou said as Malik tried calming him down over the phone. "It's okay Ryou, calm down and tell me what happened." Ryou calmed down bit by bit as he explained, when he got to the end Ryou still shook but no more tears came and he could talk without bursting into tears.

"I'll get there as soon as I can, Isis will be at Domino in a few days I'll see if I can get there. For now, stay calm and write down anything that happens." Ryou nodded and said "Thank you. Thank you so much." he then ended the call and shook against the wall for an hour before standing and walking towards the Manor, he had to find out who and what wanted him.

The door to the manor was still locked as Ryou's hand shook with the right key in front of the lock, "Easy now Ryou. It's just a door, nothing is going to hurt you. Nothing is going to scare you." Ryou reassured himself as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. The Manor was still clean and everything was the way he left it yesterday. Walking up to the second floor Ryou opened the library door and walked in. The floor was Ash wood and the walls were red with a dark wood border. There were bookshelf's filled to the brim with books on almost every subject Ryou could think of. The windows in here weren't leaking like the other ones and the room seemed to be untouched by time as Ryou progressed with his flash light to the back shelves. In the back there were hardly any books and the number of full shelfs came down until Ryou hit a shelf that had nothing on it, at the end however there was a simple black leather bound book. Walking over to it Ryou felt his heart race and thump as if it was going to explode any minute, reaching down Ryou picked up the old book and turned it over, the pages were yellowed at the edges and the book smelt of old paper and ink, on the cover was the etching of a snowflake in a heart.

A light came from behind him as foot steps walked towards Ryou. Turning Ryou backed into the wall at the sight. It was Winter. Winter Jay Eternal. The girl from the portraits! The black sheep of the family! Ryou's heart thumped faster as Winter came closer her body was transparent and she was wearing a black victorian dress that fell to her knees with a black head band and a pair of black leggings followed by black victorian boots. "St-stay back!" Ryou shouted as Winter stopped and smiled, she opened her mouth and spoke _Do not be afraid of me. I mean no harm. _It sounded like multiple people were talking all at once to Ryou as Winter reached her hands out for him to see as if she was showing that there were no possible weapons she could have on her. _I'm here to tell you that Allan is sorry for scaring you and that I need your help. _Ryou shook as she spoke his eyes in fear as he looked at her kind blue eyes. How could she be sorry when she was one of the reasons he was scared. Ryou took her out stretched hand as it fell through the cold misty figure Winter was made of he pulled back as Winter stood and looked out the window, _please. It's not safe for you right now. We must leave! _Winter said as Ryou stood his legs like jelly as Winter looked back at him _Hurry. Follow me. _She then floated off at a quick pace with Ryou dashing to try and keep up with her. Winter made it to the door and waited for Ryou. _Open the door, I cannot protect you if you are to stay in the manor. _As Ryou opened the door he saw the twilight and then Winter's transparent form as she came out into the light. Closing the door Ryou locked it and ran with Winter back to the GroundsKeeper's house.

Once Ryou and Winter were inside, Ryou started a fire in the fire place trying to calm down as he took a seat on the same couch as last night while Winter sat in one of the arm chairs to the left of him. The distance between the two was three feet but even from this distance Ryou could feel the cold air around her that mixed with the heat from the fire. He now took the time to really look at her as she eyed the fire. Her hair was shorter now and fell to her shoulders in a straight fashion where it was shorter in back than in front. Her fingers were long and elegant, her chest was flat and her sharp sky blue eyes seemed as if they were glowing in this light. Her eyes flicked and met with his as he looked away. Winter's head turned and watched him. There was a very awkward silence between them as Winter stared down at her hands. "Why are you following me?" Ryou asked as he broke the silence, Winter stared at him.

_Following you? _Winter asked as Ryou came back with "I know it was you who wrote the note, you who watched me when l was cleaning the manor! Your the one that's been following me!" Ryou almost shouted in anger as Winter looked at him hurt. She then looked down at her hands as Ryou calmed and said "I'm sorry, it's just that. A lot has been happening lately." as Winter looked at him and whispered _Don't be. It's really not your fault or mind it's just that. When my family was murdered we were never brought justice. The true criminal was never caught and we were never properly put to rest. We're stuck here until things are done to help us pass on. _Winter said as Ryou looked at her. "What would those things be?" _I-I cannot say them now. Not with the sun down. _"Why can't you say them now?" _Because it's dangerous. _Ryou sighed and sat back sleep tugging at his eyes "Well I'm heading to bed." Ryou said but stopped halfway to his room "I never got a name." Winter smiled. _Winter Jay Eternal. _"Ryou, Ryou Bakura." Ryou said as he made it up to bed the book was on his desk strangely as Ryou crawled into bed. He knew one person was not trying to harm him. That was all he needed to know as he closed his eyes one last time he swore he saw Winter look at him from the bottom of the stairs.

**Well that's the third chapter. I hope you liked it. Sorry if Malik seems OOC I just can't get him right. Right now we just met Winter's ghost. What are the things she needs to have done? Why is the manor dangerous after dark? Why can't she explain? Why am I asking pointless questions? -off in the distance- I don't knowwwwwwwwwwwww.. Well I'll see you next chapter. till then. R&**


	4. Day 4

**Heya!~ It's day four of my ten day fanfic! Man I love writing this so far and the review I got from Stardustlover made my day! Now I'm all pumped up and ready to write! Well as a recap of the last chapter, Ryou met face to face with Winter Eternal after a few hours of freaking out over the phone with Malik. In case you are confused with which one is which Malik is the Hikari or the one who acts mostly sane while Marik is the Yami or the one who has completely lost all sanity. I'm not sure for this but it's all I can understand….. other than that let's start with a disclaimer! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I only own Winter and the Eternal family. **

_February seventh was the day that Celia was engaged, I should have been happy right? I wasn't, I was worried, I was afraid. Ever since that suitor came to the house things have been strange, Vertigo has been quiet and off roaming the halls herself sticking to the nursery where her new born child Christopher would have slept had he not been wiped out by an illness the year before. Father has been sticking to his study with Grandfather and Grandmother has started sleeping even more. Even Celia has been on the roof deck lately with her suitor. What is going on here dearest mother? Can you send me a message? _

When Ryou awoke to the sun shining in his eyes the next morn, Winter was gone. Well not really, he could "feel" her presence even though she was gone. Possibly residing in the manor, watching and waiting for him. This sent shivers down Ryou's spine as he stepped into the shower and made a list of things to do that day.

He could start working on the electrical systems of the manor but, that meant he had to go into the cellar which was possibly even stranger than the entire manor itself….. Ryou could also start on fixing the windows and repainting the walls, or work on replacing the stair cases so he could clean the upper levels and eventually the attic.

None of this appealed to Ryou as he stepped out of the shower and got dressed in a pair of old tan cargo pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror once the steam had mostly cleared, something felt different about him. He felt fine in health but it seemed that his mental state had grown and demanded knowledge. Ryou turned and left the bathroom heading upstairs into his room, next to his desk was an old dark green shoulder bag. Empty and waiting for him, strange, he thought that he had put that under his bed… oh well maybe it was the ghosts of Eternal Manor.

Ryou was about to leave when a thought landed in his head. What if he researched the Eternal Murder Case? What if he researched the manor and Winter's family? One thing was certain for Ryou though, he would understand what happened all those years ago at the manor. A smile spread across his face as Ryou grabbed the bag and filled it with things he needed. Such as his phone, the article, Winter's Diary and a spare notebook with a working pen. With that Ryou bolted down the stairs in joy and grabbed his coat along with the keys to the groundskeepers house and his car. Running outside after locking the door Ryou unlocked the light blue truck that had been parked a little ways from the manor and slid into the drivers seat. The roof and the hood along with the back of the truck had wet leaves and slivers of soaking paper from the move to the manor. Turning the key the engine roared to life as Ryou's smile grew wider when he drove down the forest path. For the first time since he came here Ryou noticed that the Manor was about a mile away from a graveyard and that the entire land around the manor was on a very large hill, letting him see the city of domino in the sunlight of that Tuesday morning.

The drive took about an hour to get to Domino but once Ryou was there he knew what he was going to do as he drove into the parking lot of the local library by his house. Getting out of the car Ryou found that down in Domino the air was warmer and that the shift in weather was better than the two days of rain he had at the manor. Maybe it was warmer down here because of the altitude change or due to the fact that there wasn't the feeling of eyes boring into the back of his head. Maybe it was maybe it wasn't but, as Ryou walked up the steps to the library he did feel that something was going to be answered. A question that would be very important, who was Winter Jay Eternal?

Ryou stepped into the library and gave a nod to the head librarian as he headed for the local history section of the library. "Eternal Murder. Eternal Murder. Eternal Murder." Ryou whispered to himself as he scanned the rows and rows of books on the shelves for anything related to the Eternal Family or the Manor. There were a few on how the city of Domino was discovered or of the recent wars going on with Domino involved. After for what seemed like hours Ryou finally found a book related to the Eternal Murder. It was an eight inch by five inch book with a paper back cover of an old set of handcuffs inside prison bars with the red white and blue lights of a police squad car. The title was '_Victorian Murders.' _There wasn't an author however and this disappointed Ryou as he wanted to see if he could contact the writer and ask him about the book. Turning the book over Ryou read the list of cases on the back, most of them he didn't care for but the last case on the list was simply titled "The Eternal Murder.". Placing the book safely in his arms Ryou continued to look for anything else related to the manor, wether it was building plans, history on the family or of the land Ryou took it with him to a table in the far corner of the library where he knew that it was quieter and wouldn't be noticed.

Laying the stack of books and files down on the four chaired oak table Ryou stripped off his coat and placed his shoulder bag on the floor next to him where he pulled out the notebook and the pen. Flipping open Victorian Murders, Ryou read through the long paragraph of the case jotting down notes as he went along. Once that book was done Ryou grabbed the next book on the stack titled 'Major Crimes in the Victorian Era' and wrote down all the information he could get from that. That was how the day went for Ryou, jotting down note after note until his hand hurt, reading paragraph after paragraph on the family, the manor and the murder that took place there. Ryou was in the middle of drawing the floor plans when some one called out his name, looking up Ryou's eyes met with a pair of familiar set of light violet eyes. "Oh. Hi Yugi." Ryou said after a pause to search his mind for a name. "I haven't seen you since graduation." Yugi said with a smile plastered on his face "What have you been up to?" he asked as Ryou put on the facade he had mastered years ago with his yam of making things seem alright. "Nothing much. I just got the job as Groundskeeper of a very old manor." Ryou said keeping his facade up. Yugi didn't buy it, "Are you sure?" Ryou questioned this and smiled "Yeah I'm very sure. It's a nice place up in the forest, next to a manor. Stunningly beautiful, even if the ghosts are-" Ryou stopped in mid sentence as he realized what he said and who he was talking to. If he told Yugi about the ghosts, about yesterdays haunting, Yugi would tell Anzu and Anzu would convince him to move, maybe even force him out. Ryou didn't wait for a response from Yugi before he bolted for the door, forgetting about his coat and stuff. All that mattered was that he got out of there before questions he didn't want to answer were asked.

He ran, though the library, out the doors and onto the street where he ran faster. He ran down alley path ways and through parks until he made it to their old highschool which was closed due to past incidents. Ryou bolted through the doors and up the stair cases to the roof where sun met him and a warm breeze brushed over him. He wasn't cold, he was afraid. Ryou Bakura was afraid of loosing the manor. Truth was he loved that place, he loved it since he laid his eyes on the ad for a job there. He thought that it would be a small haunting, one that wouldn't scare him. One that he could be amazed by, but now he realized that even though the manor was haunted there were reasons he didn't want to leave. One of those reasons was that he _wanted, _to help Winter. Last night when he saw her at the foot of the stairs just before he fell asleep, she was afraid as he was, he didn't know what she was afraid of but, Ryou couldn't stand to see other people afraid. He had a calling to help her, it seemed that he had a _connection _with Winter. Ryou walked over to the edge of the fenced up roof and looked down, he had once thought of ending his life. Right after the Yami's left, things weren't right to him. Things were alien to Ryou but, someone stopped him. He didn't know who but he knew it was a girl, she told him that no matter how strange things get, no matter how many people turn their backs on you there would always be someone who knows how you feel. Some one who cares. When Ryou turned around that day he saw no one and took those words into mind.

Today Ryou sat there, right where he wanted to jump and end his life almost four years ago, thinking about the girl that told him those words. "Come to think of it, that voice sounded a lot lik-" Ryou was cut off from speaking to him self when the door opened and Yugi stepped out. "I knew you were here." He said as he walked over to Ryou who didn't make a sound or even move, "Why did you run Ryou?" He asked as Ryou shook lightly, "Why?" Yugi asked as he dropped both Ryou's bag and coat at his feet before joining him on the ground of the roof. "Well…" Ryou stared to say silently as a bird flew over head, "I guess it was because I was afraid." Yugi looked at him questionably "Afraid? Why would you be afraid?" Ryou sighed and looked up at the sky while clouds rolled over head in big dark waves, a storm would be coming. "I was afraid because, I thought you would tell Anzu and you know Anzu, if a friend is in danger she pulls them out of it right away." He looked to the side at the forest surrounding the manor, from this hight he could just make out the roof of the manor. "Don't worry Ryou, I can't even tell Anzu anyway. She came back from NewYork last month, that's when I found out she only liked me because I looked like Yami." There was a saddened tone to Yugi's voice when he mentioned Yami. Ryou couldn't blamed him, Yami was like an older brother to Yugi. "I'm sorry to hear that." Ryou said as he looked down at the ground of the roof, "Truth is, I don't want to leave the manor. There is this girl there and she's stuck there forever until I can do something about it. In reality I think I feel a connection with her. It's like she thinks I understand what it feels like to be different." Ryou sighed as he met Yugi's eyes, "It's Winter isn't it? Winter Jay Eternal?"

"How did you know?" Ryou asked as Yugi dug through Ryou's bag and pulled out the black diary, "I kinda read her diary." Yugi said as Ryou smiled then looked at the horizon. The two old friends sat there for the remainder of the afternoon, even long after Yugi left, Ryou sat there and thought long about their conversation. In the end Yugi had checked out Ryou's material for him, Ryou stood and picked up his coat and bag walking back to the library and getting into his truck. Turning the key to start the engine Ryou looked at his cell across the seat next to him, should he call Malik? This question raced through his mind as Ryou drove back to the manor and walked back to the groundskeepers house. Once inside Ryou decided to not call Malik and head to bed, walking up stairs Ryou fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

**YAY! It's done! Well this was a close call as I realized I needed to be somewhere for most of the night preventing me from writing. Who cares! I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow! See ya!**


	5. Day 5

**And I'm back! Can you believe we have SEVEN whole days left! Neither can I but we're here at the halfway point! Yay! To celebrate guess what we have! A new chapter! Yay! Okay enough with the celebrating time to start the disclaimer and begin the fanfic! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any product of Yu-gi-oh. I only own The Eternal Family and Winter. **

_February 8th is the day I found out why I'm hated, it's because I look like fathers dead sister. Because I look like aunt Victoria, Aunt Victoria died when I was born from some sort of illness and because I looked like her father hates me. I think there are more reasons to hating me then just that one. I need to find that out soon maybe. After all the manor is getting dangerous. _

Ryou awoke to find that the sun had risen, high into the sky by the time he woke. Looking over at his clock Ryou found that it was noon and that there was another note on the ground. Ryou sighed and sat up looking around the room, nothing had been moved since last night. His dark green bag was still at the foot of the bed and his desk was in the same place.

Sliding out of bed Ryou got dressed in a simple white shirt with a black vest and a pair of blank jeans, he decided to braid his hair off to the side that day. The braid left his bangs untouched and would let him work on the house. Picking up the note Ryou began to read aloud,

_Dearest Groundskeeper,_

_ Things that must be done are lost within time. One thing is that the manor must be restored. _

_ ~Winter. _

Ryou sighed and smiled a little before realizing the note was written in blood again, this caused him to drop it and let it fall to the ground. Why did Winter write her notes to him in blood? He could feel his heart thudding in his chest as he took deep breaths, it didn't cause him to freak out like last time. Instead Ryou's heart jumped. Sighing again Ryou walked down the stairs and out the door, it was nice out almost as nice as Domino yesterday. "Oh right." Ryou said as he recalled his conversation with Yugi. Well today Ryou walked up to the foot of the fifth floor stairs. Some of the steps were missing while others had been weekend by water damage. Sighing again Ryou set to work on bringing new wood that had been delivered when he first came to the manor, to the fourth floor where he switched out each board with a new one and tossed the old ones onto a pile in the back. Maybe he could start a fire when Malik gets there, that might work, Ryou smiled as he slid another board into place, he could also have Yugi come with Tristan and Joey.

He turned around to grab another board when Ryou came face to face with Winter. "Winter!" Ryou jumped as Winter blinked _Did I scare you? _She asked as Ryou shook his head no "Oh uh no I was just er surprised to see you there." Ryou said hesitantly to the spirit before finishing the steps to the fifth floor. Once those steps were done Ryou began on dusting and sweeping the soot and grime off of all the surfaces on the fifth floor, all the while Winter watched him carefully as Ryou began on the steps to the sixth floor. He was almost complete when he realized the time. He turned to Winter and she nodded following him out the door right into a ring of two white vans and a black car with the words "Professional Ghost Hunters" on the sides. Winter rolled her eyes as a man with hair just like Winter's father came up to Ryou and began asking him questions "So I heard you just took a job here at Eternal Family Manor! Are you aware of the spirits that haunt this place?" The man asked as Ryou stuttered "O-of course." On and on the man asked Ryou questions of the manor, the Eternals and himself before Ryou's eyes went to Winter's and went black as she passed through him and didn't come out.

"What is your-" The man began before Winter/Ryou cut him off in a pissed manor "What is your purpose here! To make money and prove that the miserable spirits of Eternal Manor are still here! Yeah I'm still here and I will always stay here until you and your crew get out of here before we fine you for trespassing on private property!" This scared the man and his crew as they left as soon as they came, happily chatting about the possession they had all witnessed. Winter eventually gave Ryou back control over his body when the two were safely inside the groundskeeper house, the camera crew and self proclaimed 'Ghost Hunter' had left for good. Ryou doubled over out of the pain of the memories of his yami, always taking possession of his body and harming his friends. Winter was in front of him when he looked up lightly crying, _I'm sorry. _She said as he stood and started a fire in the small fire place before taking a seat on the couch with Winter next to him. He said nothing as she continued to say over and over again, _I'm sorry _like a record player. Finally there was a silence between them with just the clock ticking behind them and the crackling of the fire before them.

_I'm sorry, _Winter said as she sighed and looked at her hands _It's just, humans don't know what it's like to be dead. They don't know what it's like to be a shadow of there own selves, to not be able to feel pain, hunger, sleep or even feel anything at all. They think that if they capture us on camera we don't matter and that we don't need to be thought of ever again. They don't know what it's like to be put down by self proclaimed physics! _She shouted with each word echoing with the multiple voices mimicking hers _Humans don't know what it's like to not be able to feel! _Now this made Ryou look at her, the last sentence was just her, none of the voices echoed hers and made her sound like multiple people talking at once. It was just one voice, just Winters. Winter had her transparent hair in her face as she looked at her hands, trying to remember the last time she ever felt something. Ryou didn't know what he was doing but a voice in his head urged him to do it, He stood in front of her and kneeled down to cup her face in his hands. If she was alive Ryou could imagine Winter crying, tears sliding down her cheeks and down onto the black victorian dress she wore. She looked at him as Ryou's eyes became half lidded as he closed in, a light blush starting on his face. Winter eventually realized what he was doing as he stopped just centimeters away from her "Close your eyes and imagine my lips upon yours." He whispered as Winter did as she was told.

There was a long time before the ghost and the human sat back from each other a smile pulled at Ryou's face but he surprised it. "Some humans can understand what your going through." He said simply as Winter watched him walk up the steps and lay down onto his bed with her at the top of the stairs now. Something told the unbeating lifeless heart in her to go to him but, her mind told her to not get attached to living beings. Winter forced herself to take a step towards Ryou, then another and another until she was right next to the bed. Should she? Her hand ghosted over Ryou's face as he fell deeper into sleep, an unseen force made Winter slid into bed next to him where Ryou opened his eyes a little and smiled. Closing his eyes Winter knew that she did not require sleep but for once in ninety years all she wanted to do was close her eyes one last time.

**Well that's the end and it's last minute. I've been planning that last part since the day I started this! Yeah! Now that I have that down I'm going to start on the next chapter for tomorrow and get some sleep! Night viewers!**


	6. Day 6

**I'm extremely happy about the reviews from Sakura2112 and DarkVampireGirl13!~ Thank you very much! Now that I'm really happy I think we should start with the disclaimer then the story! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh I only own my Oc Winter and the Eternal Family. **

_February 8th, Edgar has left for an apprenticeship at the local Historical Society. Strange, he only came to see me before he left. He didn't even tell father or even grandfather of his departure. Sadly he was one of my only blood family to actually know of my existence as Allan has been ignoring me and even Grandmother has been avoiding me recently. Only thing I can tell is, there's a storm brewing and I fear that my time will end soon. In the mean time, I have hidden my treasure at the lake where father hopefully wont find it. Oh mother please tell me, what must I do to be loved by father again? _

When Ryou awoke Winter had vanished, it seemed that last night had been a dream. One he wanted to remember. How ever when Ryou gained his train of thought he couldn't feel Winter any more, where was she? In the place of her essence there was something different, something cold, naive, something sinister. "Winter?" Ryou called out when he got no response he knew she might just be off somewhere where he couldn't feel her presence. Yet something still tugged at him, something told him to finish the manor as soon as possible. Shrugging the feeling off Ryou walked down to the first floor and looked around, nothing out of the ordinary, then why was he having this feeling?

Sighing Ryou walked back upstairs and grabbed his clothes for the day before heading to the bathroom to get a shower in before he had to work. Right when he stepped into the shower, an image came into his head. _It was raining, the water mixed with the mud and my blood as I ran to the lake. branches and thistles scraped my legs and face as I finally ran into freezing water. Rain pelting as I felt another bullet pierce my body in the side with words drowned by thunder. The next thing I knew I was under water, my breath gone and water quickly filling my lungs as I kicked and swung my arms around trying to get away. _Ryou gasped as he slid down the wall to the floor, what were these visions he hand? Who was telling him this? Where is the lake? Is it on the property or is it further into the forest? Only one way to know was to look at the maps he had seen for a moment in the master study. To do that he had to go into the manor and bring them out so that he can see the lake. Turning the water off Ryou quickly got into a pair of faded blue jeans and a blue and white horizontally striped shirt with a light blue over shirt that was unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up. He hadn't worn an outfit like this since the Millennium item issue had been taken care of, strange. Why was he wearing this now?

There was the sound of his phone buzzing on the floor upstairs as Ryou could hear it through the celling. Walking up the steps Ryou picked his phone up and looked at the text that had appeared on the screen. It was Malik, letting him know he had arrived and needed directions to the manor. Ryou had almost forgotten that Malik was arriving today, texting the directions Ryou put the cellphone into his pocket and made his way to the front door. Even though there was a light mist and the smell of on coming rain Ryou didn't need his coat as it was pretty warm without it. The manor still had the lock on the door and there weren't any tool marks, this relieved him as Ryou now knew that the Ghost hunters from the day before hadn't returned. However this also worried Ryou as they might tell others of the manor and there will be more and more people coming, physics, mediums, ghost hunters and the news might come just to get a little scrap of evidence. That was good right? It would give the manor publicity and possibly a family might want to get this place right?

Ryou opened the manor door and stepped inside, there was that feeling again, the same sinister feeling of being watched again. Walking slowly up the steps Ryou noted each and every little creak and moan of the floor boards, the whistling of wind through the trees and the rapping against the window by a branch. Once Ryou reached the master study a wind whipped past him as the sound of quick heavy foot steps came from above. "Winter?" Ryou called again with no response. Turning to the door Ryou turned the handle and stepped into the dreary study. The floor was a very dark wood and the walls were pinstripe grey with other shades of grayish blue and green, there were dark oak shelves filled with leather bound and volumes of books. The windows had thick moth eaten red curtains over them with a slit just so that he could see the sun spilling onto the exotic rug on the ground, in the center of the room a desk filled with papers, ink pens, books and tools that Ryou had heard of but never seen before this. The map was just above the desk on the wall held up by tacks of some sort. Crossing the distance between him and the map Ryou pulled it down lightly and folded it, turning around just as a book came flying at his head. He ducked in time as the book hit the wall and fell to the floor, soon more books were heading his way as Ryou quickly ran through the door and closed it just as the nearest bookcase fell to the ground. He didn't have time to thing, Ryou needed to get out as his heart raced while he ran for the door. All around him the open doors to rooms were slamming shut as footsteps ran up and down the stairs. When he reached the door Ryou turned around and screamed "Every thing needs to stop!" as things that floated in mid air dropped to the ground and the footsteps ended with the doors all shut. He gasped for breath as he fumbled with the door knob, eventually he turned it and ran out into the sunshine coming face to face with Malik.

"M-Malik." Ryou stuttered as he brushed any dirt off him and tried to hide the folded map in his back pocket. "Hello. How have you been Bakura?" Malik asked as Ryou led him to the groundskeepers house and opened the door. "Fine really but, you know we are friends so you can just call me Ryou." Ryou said as he and Malik walked into the small house and closed the door. "Okay sure" Malik said as he sat down on the couch where Ryou and Winter had been the night before. "So hows the ghosts been?" Malik asked as Ryou joined him on the couch, "Well it's been better, not as bad as before." Ryou said hesitantly as he took out the note Winter left him and the map unfolding them onto the table before them. "I need to find something. I had this vision of a lake on the grounds or in the forest." Malik examined the map and found a spot where nothing was marked and pointed to it promptly "How about here?" Ryou looked and realized he might been right, it was off the grounds and in the forest. The two friends had agreed to look for this lake that moment and set out into the uncharted woods, Ryou couldn't shrug the feeling of something sinister occurring here as Malik walked ahead of him.

Eventually after going through dense forest for about an hour the two of them broke into a clearing where a serene lake hid, the water was clear and waist deep by the looks of it. Both Ryou and Malik gaped at the island in the center of the lake, it had a willow tree that draped over the small lake making small ripples in the water, right by the willow there was a very small cabin almost hidden by vegetation and the willows branches. The windows were broken from what Ryou could see as he walked to the waters edge, Malik was siting next to him looking out over the water. "What exactly did we come here for Ryou?" Malik asked, Ryou didn't respond instead he was seeing a scene unfold before him.

_Winter came into the clearing holding her shoulder as blood seeped onto the muddy grass, she ran to the water as another bullet rang through the air into her side. She fell into the water as a shadowed figure hovered over her and held her down the silvery form of a revolver floating into the water as the figure held Winter under. _

The scene faded before Ryou could realize that he was being pulled under by something. "MALIK!" Ryou screamed as he closed his eyes when water came into is mouth. The last thing he saw was Malik running towards him through the water before things went dark. A light was shining when Ryou opened his eyes underwater, there was a box of some sort that floated next to him as he reached out for it the box closed in his hand. Ryou held it close to him as he closed his eyes again.

When Ryou awoke he was in bed and there was the full moon coming through the curtain again. Looking next to him Ryou found that Malik had fallen asleep in the chair by his dish with his head on his arms. The box from the lake was on the night stand along with Winter's diary. By the stairs Winter stood there, her head down and her hair covering her eyes as Ryou realized she was soaking wet, water dripping off her as two bullet holes bleed lightly. "Win-" Ryou began to say but was cut off when Winter turned and walked quickly and silently down the stairs. Ryou sat back onto the pillows at stared at the celling, eventually sleep over came him.

**And that's it. Sorry if Malik seems OOC I can't really get characters right. Other than that I hoped you liked this chapter and I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!**


	7. Day 7

**I'm back for Day 7! We have a confusing amount of days left as my calendar on the laptop is jacked up. Other than that I hope you like this one too. Oh well on with the disclaimer! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh I only own my OC and the Eternal Family. With that said I'll see you at the end! **

_there's something strange in the air recently between me and Celia's suitor. Could it be that he is crushing on me? But he loves Celia….. doesn't he? I shouldn't be wondering this but, why is it that father really hates me? What did I do? Mother tell me what did I do wrong to make him hate me? _

Ryou awoke when the sound of boiling water shrieked through out the cabin. Sitting up Ryou looked to his side and found that Malik was gone, looking out the window Ryou noticed that there were two other cars out side. What was going on? Ryou tried to stand but found that his legs buckled and that he felt light headed. Was he sick? He couldn't be sick? He had to restore the manor! He didn't have time to be sick! Ryou started trying harder to stand and walk to the stairs but he found that he couldn't. Yugi came up the steps and peaked into the room to find that Ryou was sitting up in bed and looking out the window. "So your finally up." Yugi said as Ryou jumped and locked eyes with Yugi.

"Am I sick?" Ryou asked as Yugi crossed the room and set down a tray that had a cup of steaming tea onto the night stand. "Of course you are, after you were in that lake I wouldn't be surprised if you were." Yugi said as he took a seat in the chair nearby.

Ryou stared out the window again as an awkward silence filled the room quickly. "What exactly happened?" Ryou asked as Yugi looked up from twiddling his thumbs. "You don't remember?" Yugi asked as Ryou shook his head, "Well when Malik dragged you out of that lake he called me and I was with Joey and Tristan at the time. The three of us came over as quick as we could and helped Malik with you. You've been out for the entire night and since you didn't wake up the others went ahead and started working on the manor. Now I have to get back to work Ryou, try and get some sleep." Yugi said as he walked back down the stairs. Ryou sat back and flinched as his exposed arm slid against a thin papery edge, tucked into the corner of his pillow. Half turning in bed Ryou pulled out the edge of a folded note, the hand writing indicated that Winter had left it. Again the words were written in blood but, he was used to it by now.

Unfolding the note Ryou read silently to himself,

_Things that must be done for us to pass on. _

_1. Restore the manor. _

_ and repair my treasure. _

_3. Write the true events of the Manor. (Surely my diary holds information to tell you where 2&3 shall be found and done.)_

_4. Replace the treasure in the lake cabin. _

_Lastly as a final wish, Ryou, I want you to burn my diary and forget about me completely. You have a life to live, use your time wisely. I never used mine wisely and look at me, a shadow of my own self. ~Winter _

Ryou re-read and re-read over and over again until the words were burned into his mind. "The treasure." Ryou muttered to himself as he looked around him, there, the object from the lake. It sat on the nightstand hidden by the lamp. All he needed to do was repair it then read Winter's diary. Pulling the object towards him Ryou examined it closer, it was made of what looked like pure silver explaining the weight. The cover and the sides of the small rectangular object had carvings on the surface, holding the lid closed was a simple iron latch that moved easily even though it was under water for almost one hundred years. Opening the lid proved easy for Ryou as his eyes widened in interest. The inside on the bottom of the lid was an old photo taped to the lid that was surprisingly in good shape despite being in water, on closer examination Ryou found that the box had been water tight. Inside the box was a locket and a music box system. It seemed this was a music box that belonged to Winter before she… Ryou didn't want to think about that. Taking the locket out along with the photo, Ryou slowly preyed the crystal like lid of of the music box and looked at it closely. Nothing was in dire need of repair but some areas weren't going to move as far as he could tell.

Sighing, Ryou set the music box down and pulled out a tool box he'd usually used for carving little wooden dolls and opened it. Taking out tools that he needed Ryou slowly and carefully repaired the music box until it was almost perfect as there were some areas he thought that needed to be that way. All that time he didn't notice the sun passing over head or the pair of icy blue eyes watching him from the corner of the room. Quickly however the music box was done and Ryou set it aside after replacing the crystal like cover that he found was made of a diamond like material along with the locket and picture. He pulled out a pen and crossed out two things on the list, _Restore the manor _and _find and repair my treasure. _Once the two things were crossed out a soft wind blew across the room as Winter appeared in the center. With out even looking at Ryou she simply stated with multiple voices _Two of the five tasks given have been completed only three remain. _She looked at Ryou briefly before fading into the background. At that time the sun had dipped below the horizon and Ryou felt the urge to sleep as the others came back from restoring the manor stating that it had been completed. His eyes closed trained on the music box.

**Well that's the end of this chapter. Sorry if its late I was gone and couldn't write for a while but this chapter will be up and I'll see you tomorrow! Bye! R&R**


	8. Day 8

**I'm back again with another chapter in Eternal Winter! Can you believe we only have three more chapters till the last chapter! (That is the next two days plus today.) I'm going to start with the disclaimer then see you at the end! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh I only own Winter and the Eternal Family. **

_Father has lost it finally, today he just tore up the master bed room. I had witnessed it all, him throwing things around and against the wall. He even broke one of the windows in the master bed room that threw him further into a rage. Why are things happening like this? In the mean time I moved the location of this diaries hiding spot from my room to the back of the library father or anyone but me refuses to go. I see this as the safest place other than the lake. _

Ryou awoke early for some odd reason and ended up on the fifth floor of the manor, it was still night from what he could tell and he was lying at the foot of the stairs to the roof. Sitting up Ryou looked around him and found that on the steps there was blood that looked like it had been dragged across the floor and up the steps. Backing up Ryou looked about and screamed loudly as a body fell from the steps. The body looked familiar to Ryou as his breathing became heavy the closer he got to it. It was Celia. "Oh god!" Ryou screamed as he ended up tripping over his own two feet. There were a pair of feet walking slowly down the stairs as Ryou started hyperventilating. The sound of blood dripping off something echoed down the steps as a shadowy figure walked towards Celia's body and dragged it away by the hand until the figure reached the stairs then the figure held something in the air and muttered something he could not hear before Celia's head rolled towards him. Ryou screamed even louder as the figure began walking towards him, the object in their hand was a knife and in the other bloodied hand was a revolver. Ryou screamed as the knife started coming down.

Ryou sat up gasping in fear, he was still alive. What was that dream about? Who murdered Celia? Who murdered the family? Who tried to murder him? Questions piled up in his mind as Ryou's throat felt dry, he had been screaming throughout his nightmare. Standing up Ryou looked out the window past the manor at the direction of the lake. Something told him to go there. Walking down the steps towards the door Ryou looked out the window and saw that there was a simple tent set up next to the house. Were Malik and the others still asleep? Did they hear him screaming? Again questions kept filling Ryou's mind as he slid on his converse and took his jacket. Putting it on Ryou stepped out into the midnight air using only his eyes until he was past the manor to turn on the flash light he took with him.

Walking to the lake proved easy for Ryou as he had memorized the path from before, once he was at the lake however Ryou began feeling the presence of someone watching him again. As Ryou edged towards the water as far as he dared he noticed in the dense fog that a boat was docked in the grass surrounding the lake as if it was waiting for him. Stepping towards the boat Ryou looked behind him at the way he came and pushed the boat out into the icy water before stepping into the boat. An oar had been placed conveniently in the boat as Ryou picked it up and used it to paddle across the lake towards the small island at the center of the lake.

The trip proved to take only minutes as he rowed through water that was deeper than he originally thought, soon though Ryou felt the boat come to a stop as it hit land. Stepping out Ryou found that a rope had been on the island tied to a tree and used that to tie the boat to shore. Looking up Ryou saw the moon and the stars, stunningly beautiful. Why hadn't he noticed how clear the sky was compared to the one he saw at Domino? Was it because the manor prevented him from viewing it? Shaking his head Ryou began walking up a small hill towards the small shack on the lake, there was a rusted pad lock on the door as Ryou put his hands in his pockets from the cold, his hand hit something metal in his pocket as he pulled it out. A key matching the lock on the door! Using the key on the pad lock Ryou turned the rusted handle and stepped inside, using his flashlight to see the interior. The walls had words written and carved into them. All the same question "Why?" Ryou read aloud when his eyes traveled to a sentence, a full sentence. Written in blood by a hand much different than the one that wrote why. This sentence had Ryou ask himself what does it mean when he read it aloud "_God have Mercy on the girl?" _Ryou asked as the wind from the outside came through the broken window and open door. Panning his flashlight across the small shack Ryou found that there was a desk with a leather bound book, a bloody stain and a revolver that looked exactly like the one in his dream. Ryou turned to leave when something fell out of his pocket, turning to pick it up Ryou's eyes wandered to under the desk and found the skellington of a girl in the same exact outfit Winter wore. He let out a blood curtailing scream as he ran dropped his flashlight and got into the boat, paddling across the lake and running back to the cabin, back into bed.

That was Winter's body. Of course it had to be, right? Ryou asked himself this as he recalled that in the articles he found of the murder at the manor, both Winter and her father's bodies were never found and that only two people at the manor survived, the Groundskeeper and Celia's Fiance. Well he found hers and when he did the memories that didn't belong to him started coming.

_I was dazed when the man lifted my head from the water and dragged me into a boat rowing across the lake, towards the shack. He dragged me onto the cold and wet grass until I reached dry dirt. Then a screaming pain came into my neck as I watched my own blood spill across the dirt floor, a pair of fingers writing something onto the wall then taking their clothes off, then mine, as they raped my dying body. I wanted to scream but, I found that I couldn't. I wanted to cry but, found that I had no tears to shed. I wanted to kick, to punch, to defend myself from this man who killed me. I found that I couldn't even move, I found that I was a ghost. Found that I was dead. That I was dead and was watching the man that murdered me, rape me a sick sick man, rape a dead girl for pleasure. Sick sick sick! There was a revolver on the ground as I summoned enough strength to pick it up and shoot the man in the skull, his blood splattering across my bodies face. I smiled as I dragged him into the middle of the lake and waited for his body to disappear from view before pushing my body into the corner and covering it in flowers. I did get my wish of salvation but, I didn't die the way I wanted to die. I died the way he wanted me to die. I let him in and let him destroy me. I let him kill me. The monster. _

Ryou gasped as he fell to the floor and looked up, it was mid morning and the sun had risen halfway across the sky. There was Winter's diary on the table along with his laptop, the urge to write caught his fingers as Ryou, still in his pajamas, sat down in front of the computer and opened both it and Winter's Diary up. He began typing away when a writing document had been pulled up, starting with the title of "The true story of Eternal Manor". He erased it and typed "The story of Eternal Manor" Again he erased this and typed "Winter's story". No matter what he tried the name he wrote down wouldn't fit the story. That's when Winter was behind him, her face was over his shoulders as she whispered to him _Eternal Winter _Ryou looked at her as his fingers went over the keys gracefully. "Eternal Winter?" He asked as Winter nodded. For some reason the name stuck in his mind. Winter was about to leave when Ryou grabbed her hand, well tried to, and succeeded. For some reason now he could feel her as a human, was it because he saw her body at the lake? Turning her around he wrapped his arms around her and whispered "I know what they did to you." As Winter stepped back in shock she gasped. _You know? _She sounded so unsure, so afraid. Then out of nowhere, Ryou was on the ground and Winter was on top of him with her lips against his. _Thank you for understanding. _She whispered as she vanished into thin air.

He stood off the floor and brushed any dirt from him. Ryou couldn't believe what Winter had just done. What he had just felt. He never really felt this way about a person before, why was he feeling this way for a dead girl? Why did he love Winter? Ryou blushed at the thought of him with her in bed like the first night they…. kissed…. That's why! Ryou realized, The reason he could feel her was because he made her feel alive, because he loved her! His heart racing Ryou sat down and started writing feverishly, turning page after page of Winter's Diary. Writing things down word for word. Soon the Diary was done and Ryou ended up renaming the story to "_Eternal Winter: Diary of the Dead" _It stuck like that in his mind as Ryou sent the story to the publisher in Domino and almost right away after an hour a message appeared in his inbox. The publishers wanted to publish the book and would have it done in a day or so. A smile spread across his face as Ryou closed the laptop and pulled out the list of things he needed to complete. Writing her story was complete, Ryou crossed that out but now, he needed to find the real murderer. That meant he had to force Winter to tell him. Now matter what, Winter had to tell him who the real killer was.

Yawning Ryou changed into a new set of pajamas and fell into a deeper sleep then he had ever before, this time, there were no dreams or feelings. Just the peaceful sleep Ryou wanted and had been starved of for the last few days.

**Well that's the end of this chapter. I hope you liked it. Who is the killer though, was it the GroundsKeeper, Celia's Fiance, the Father, or was it her brother, Maybe it was even Winter herself, or even was it a random psychopath set on revenge for the men that were lost in a grave robbing incident the week before? Only the writer knows but, you can take a guess at who it is. The answer will be out in the next chapters. Till then ~ Nisa-cha**


	9. Day 9

**Hi! I'm back for the ninth chapter~! I am extremely extremely happy! No joking when I saw the reviews given by BakuraLOLZ99 and The Evil Chocolate Cookie I was literally bouncing off the walls! Thank you all for reviewing the story it made me extremely happy and now I'm going to shut up and start with the disclaimer. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, I only own Winter and the Eternal Family. **

_It's stranger now that the suitor has been watching my every move, what is he planing? Even Father is watching me closely, why is that? Grandmother has started locking herself in her room and quit talking to everyone completely. She writes on paper to ask the maids for something now, is she going to die? Celia even had her child this morning, deciding on the name of Mandy. Oh mother why? Why wont you bring me my salvation? I'm begging you. _

Ryou awoke to Yugi shaking his shoulders, it was still night out and the time was almost two AM. "What is it Yugi? I'm trying to sleep." Ryou murmured crankily as he turned away from the light Yugi turned on. "I can't find Malik, or Joey or even Tristan! They're gone and I'm sure they aren't in the manor!" Yugi said worriedly as Ryou woke up completely from the sound of his friends being gone. "Your sure they're not just out for a walk?" Ryou asked as he stood from bed "I'm sure! I even went through the woods to find them! They're not there, their cars are still here and they even left their shoes and flashlights at the tent!" Yugi said as he followed Ryou with his amethyst eyes. Ryou walked around the room and put things in the old green bag, such as Winter's Diary, the music box and his phone along with the keys to the manor and a few medical supplies. "Tell me exactly what happened." Ryou said as he and Yugi walked down stairs to the front door where Ryou put on his shoes while Yugi explained.

"I woke up for some reason at midnight, looking around I found that the others were gone and they left their things at the tent. I thought that they just had to go or something so I waited for them to come back. When they didn't I got worried and looked around the woods for them, I even went up to look around the outside of the manor. When I didn't find them I knew something went wrong, so I came here and woke you up. Of course you know what happened afterwords." Yugi explained as the two of them headed outside but, before they went out Ryou pulled out one of the kitchen knives "For safety reasons." He explained when Yugi asked him about it. Together Ryou led Yugi with a flashlight to the front of the manor where he took out the keys to the manor. Ryou was about to unlock it when the door swung open by itself and a wind came at them. Ryou and Yugi stood their ground though and made their way through the manor to the kitchen where they faced the cellar steps. "Something tells me not to go down their Ryou." Yugi said as Ryou looked at the padlock on the doors leading to the cellar. There was no way what so ever that Malik and the others could have made it down there.

They turned and left the kitchen heading for the third floor where the library was, opening the locked library door Ryou stepped inside after Yugi as the two made their way through the library. Sweeping the shelves looking for their friends, their was a point the two spilt up and Ryou found a book that made him think. The book was made of scraggly yellowed paper and had words written in a spidery hand writing on the cover that read _'Puella Mortuorum' . _From what Ryou knew this was latin for 'The Dead Girl'. He shivered, what a creepy name to call a book that looked like a child might read. Opening the first page Ryou found that it was a map of the grounds, including the lake and the graveyard almost a mile away. "Hey Yugi-" Ryou began to say when a scream filled the air and the sound of a body being dragged across the floor made him run towards it. The sound came from Yugi as he was clutching onto the frame of the door for dear life "YUGI!" Ryou shouted as he dove for Yugi's outstretched hand. Before Ryou could reach it though Yugi was dragged into the blackness outside of the library. Ryou didn't have time to think only time to act as he scrambled onto his feet and began chasing Yugi down the stairs to the kitchen where the cellar doors were torn open, the murky darkness felt uninviting as Ryou reached for Yugi one last time before the doors slammed shut with Yugi's screams echoing up from the stairs. "YUGI!" Ryou screamed as the doors locked on itself, he threw himself against the doors over and over. The doors did not budge. Ryou sunk to the ground on his knees as tears slid down his face onto the linoleum black and white checkered floor of the kitchen. He had lost one of his last friends, he failed to protect them!

Ryou sat there for hours until the sun rose and began to set again, he was angry at himself. He was angry because he let his friends be taken, he was angry because Winter didn't help, because she had hidden. He was angry at the manor and the ghosts, he hated himself now. He hated himself because he decided to move to the manor and take the job as groundskeeper. Ryou sat there deep in anger, still staring at the doors leading to the cellar. Yugi's screams still rang through his ears as he took matters into his own hands and stood up. Walking away Ryou's hand tightened against the knife he had brought with him. He thought of things he would never have thought of, he thought that if he saw Winter ever again he would throw the knife at her and run. Almost as soon as he had thought of Winter, she was there behind him, Ryou turned and threw the knife at her. It grazed her arm as a single tear slid down her face, the knife landed in the wall behind her as she looked up in fear and disbelief. Ryou realized what had just done as Winter turned and ran through the wall, "Winter I-!" Ryou shouted after her as he tried to go after her. "Winter I didn't mean it! I didn't want to hurt you!" Ryou shouted as he saw her come out of the wall on the upper levels and turn around to leave when he said that, she stopped and turned to face him. The next moment she was in front of him and shaking as she slowly became less transparent, then transparent again. _You really mean it? _She sounded angry and yet Winter looked afraid and weak.

"Yes, I really didn't want to hurt you." Ryou whispered to her as he pulled her into a hug, now she felt so solid. She felt alive but, he couldn't feel a heart beat or pulse. "I'm just afraid, I just lost my friends to this manor. I'm angry at this place." Winter looked up at him as she stepped back. "I know you are." She said, this time it wasn't broken up into pieces and whispers of long forgotten voices. Winter looked, felt and sounded human again. Winter must have taken notice as she looked at herself in the mirror nearby, she didn't see through her. "I'm still dead though." She said as she put her hand on the mirror, Ryou let out a breath he had been holding. She turned to him and pulled the knife out of the wall "We should get your friends back." Winter said as Ryou nodded and followed her to the cellar. Once the two of them were at the doors Winter and Ryou looked out the window, it was night out, then Ryou looked at the time on his phone and found that it was almost seven PM. "We have five hours to find your friends." Winter said as she looked over at Ryou's phone. "Why five hours?" Ryou asked as Winter stopped dead in her tracks "We just have five hours that's all." She said as she held out her hand to the lock on the door and it dropped to the ground. The doors swung open and Winter pointed down the steps "This is where I leave you Ryou. I'm sorry but, I cannot leave this floor as of current." She said as she put her hand on Ryou's face, "I'll be up here. Don't worry Ryou." Ryou nodded and turned on his flashlight heading down the stairs. Into the cold and dark cellar. "Wait Ryou!" Winter called after him as she tossed the locket from the music box down at him "If you run into trouble! Use it." Ryou caught it and nodded as he continued his decent.

The cellar was darker then Ryou had thought, there was water dripping from some point far away that echoed through the cellar. Ryou stood there at the foot of the steps and looked back, the doors were open still and he could see Winter watching him. There was a moan from far off in the cellar that Ryou had realized it was Yugi's voice. "Yugi?" Ryou asked as his flash light died. "Crap! Yugi? Are you here?" there was another moan and then a whisper 'Over here.' came Yugi's voice. "Yugi… It's me, Ryou." there was another 'here' from Yugi as Ryou found his way through the dark "Yugi I can't see that well, your going to have to speak louder." there was a louder voice that said 'Right here.' Ryou jumped as he realized it came from behind him. That's when he realized he had his phone, using the light from the screen Ryou made his way to a caged off area "Yugi!" Ryou said loudly as he realized Yugi was in the cell, bleeding but still alive. Yugi met Ryou's eyes and jumped to the front of the caged area "Ryou!" his voice was horse and sort of like a whisper. There was the sound of a chain moving as Ryou searched the key ring for a key that could open the lock on the door, when he found one labeled 'Cellar Back' Ryou fit it into the latch and was about to turn the key when something dark and evil came from behind. Ryou turned and gasped at the sight, it was Winter's grandfather. His right eye had a bullet staring back at him as blood seeped down onto the ground with each step the man took he looked as if he was limping. Suddenly Winter's Grandfather tackled Ryou as he reached for the knife he had brought with him but, he was knocked out of the way as Yugi screamed and backed up into the dark area of the caged area. That's when Ryou remembered the locket that Winter handed him, he fumbled to get it from his pocket, rolling around trying to get the dead man off him. When the locket was out Ryou didn't know what the use would be for so he opened it, that might have been a mistake as the dead man evaporated into the locket and it closed itself. Ryou turned back to Yugi and unlocked him from the cell. "Can you move?" Ryou asked as a shaking Yugi nodded and walked with Ryou back to the steps and into the kitchen, where Winter shut the doors to the cellar and locked them tightly. "Yugi needs medical attention." Winter said as Ryou pulled out the first aid kit from the bag and helped Yugi with his wounds. Winter aided in handing Ryou things he needed and putting away things he didn't need, "What did that locket do Winter?" Yugi asked as Winter continued aiding Ryou "It was my mothers locket, along with the music box. My mother was an underdeveloped physic and could help pass spirits of the dead on through the locket I guess. I'm not sure really what it does." Winter said as Ryou finished up, "Yugi I need you to go back to the groundskeepers house and lock yourself in, don't let any one but Malik, Joey, Tristan, me or Winter in okay?" Ryou said as he opened the back door leading directly to the back of the groundskeepers house. Yugi nodded as he ran through the wet grass and got inside the house. "Now we need to find Malik and the others." Ryou said as Winter nodded and led him through the house.

Winter ended up leading him to one of the guest bed rooms, "It used to be the family nursery until we….. were murdered." Winter explained as Ryou opened the door, "This is where my Grandmother was killed, protecting Mandy." Ryou stopped "I thought Mandy was dead." "She was dead, it's just Celia had her child and named it Mandy." Winter explained as Ryou walked into the large nursery. Joey stood looking out the window then he turned around and smiled "Aww man you gotta talk to this lady. She's so awesome." Joey said as he motioned at the woman that looked exactly like Winter's grandmother. Her grandmother held a little bundle of cloth in her arms as the sound of a baby came from the bundle. When Ryou looked behind him, Winter was at the door, her hand clenched over her heart as her hair covered her eyes. She stepped back as the door closed, Ryou could hear his heart thumping as Joey grabbed his hand. The baby sounded extremely demented as Winter's Grandmother looked at the two and smiled, "You can see us Groundskeeper. You hold Emily's locket. You are like her." She said as the baby suddenly went even more demented "But we cannot let you pass us on." With that the Grandmother started coming towards them with long strides "I don't like the looks of this." Joey said as Ryou held his arm over Joey's chest pushing him back. "I've got this." Ryou said as he pulled out the locket and opened it. Just as soon as Winter's Grandmother came with in arms length she was gone, both her and Mandy were gone. Ryou let out a breath he had been holding as Joey became confused and asked "What just happened?". Ryou just told him to ask Yugi and led him to the kitchen with Winter. Before Joey left for the house though he asked "So that's Winter Eh?" Ryou nodded "I can see why she likes you." At this Ryou blushed and Joey laughed while he left. "Is something wrong Ryou? Your just standing there." Winter asked as Ryou jumped and turned, "I-it's nothing. Say Winter. I've been wondering…. who exactly killed you?" Winter froze and darkly said "I don't remember." "But you must know something! I mean they did kill you!" Winter glared at him "I said, I don't remember anything! Now drop it!" Winter shouted in anger as she calmed down and looked at the clock on the wall, "It's almost midnight Ryou. Promise me that you'll come back tomorrow." Ryou was shocked at how quick she changed moods, was she bipolar? "I promise." Ryou said as he walked out the back door and turned to lock it, just before he locked it though he pulled Winter into a kiss and shut the door locking it. With that Ryou walked back to the cabin wondering if Malik and Tristan were alright, they would be if Winter could protect them. She should be able to now but, little did Ryou know that as soon as the clock struck midnight Winter would change.

**Well there's the end of day nine! I'm happy about the reviews again and I want to thank you the reader for sticking with me through this chapter. Well I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!**


	10. Day 10

**Hi! Well it's Nisa-chan again,sadly this story is going to end tomorrow. Other than that thank you for all the nice reviews. Disclaimer time now **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh I only own Winter. **

_There are things I don't want to write down and other things I shouldn't write down, today Father found one of my diaries that I had forgotten to hide. At first he was quite at diner then the shouts and curses came at me. My face still throbs from where he slapped me. I'm so angry at this family right now I just want to kill them all. What am I talking about mother, this isn't me, what's wrong with me? _

Ryou stayed up till the sun rose looking out the window as the light snores of both Yugi and Joey sounded through the room. Tristan had came back, apparently something or someone had led him from one of the family bedrooms that Ryou knew as Winter's room. "So she was protecting them." Ryou thought as the sun came over the horizon. So then, where was Malik. Neither Ryou or the others knew that.

There was a scream as Ryou jumped up out of bed and ran outside into the mist. That was Malik! There was another scream as a gun shot sounded through the air, Yugi and the others joined Ryou at the door. "That's Malik in there isn't it?" Ryou asked as He turned and grabbed a knife and the locket. Something told him the knife wouldn't help. Together with Yugi who had forced himself to come Ryou walked up to the kitchen door and unlocked it. The kitchen was a mess, there was glass on the ground, the sink was torn apart and the walls had the knives stuck in them. The doors to the cellar were torn open and had blood leading down the stairs. There weren't any moans or signs of Malik being down there so Ryou and Yugi headed into the main hall where they were met with a gruesome sight. The paintings were splattered with blood along with the walls that dripped blood onto the ground, the mirrors were shattered and plants at the front door were pushed to the ground the dirt and roots spilled out over the ground. Drapes were torn apart and laid over a body, Ryou feared the worse as blood came spreading across the floor. Yugi gasped as soon as he entered the room and turned into Ryou's chest, "It's him isn't it?" Yugi asked worriedly. Ryou shook his head, "There's only one way to find out." Ryou said as he edged towards the body covered by bloodied blue drapes. He lifted the edge of the drapes and looked at the body, it wasn't Malik. That was good, wasn't it? How ever the body did belong to Allan and that caused Ryou to pull out the locket before anything could happen and opened it. There was a small faint mist coming from the blood as the body slowly disappeared. Standing Ryou beckoned for Yugi to follow him as he whispered "It's not Malik. It was Allan.". The two of them walked throughout the house to the second floor and found Winter with her back to them, arms crossed and head down as a shiver seemed to run up her spine.

"Winter?" Ryou asked as she lifted her head and turned around "Your early. You heard the screams." she said as she quickly crossed the room and put her hand to his cheek. Yugi had taken the time to say he was heading back to the house and left quickly, that's when Winter pushed her lips onto Ryou's as she drew him into a hug. There was a scream that filled the air like a siren, that caused Winter to pull back "Vertigo." She gasped as she turned around. There was Vertigo, her hair tossed all over the place and her face and arms were obscured by blood from multiple cuts and even more blood bled from her neck due to the bullet wound in her neck. She screamed another earsplitting scream as Winter and Ryou began running from her "What happened! Who's Vertigo Winter!" Ryou shouted as Winter explained "Vertigo was killed in the most terrible way, she was killed with the memories of her lost child!". The two ran into the library and slammed the door behind them as Vertigo slammed against the door "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU BITCH!" Winter wasn't moving as Ryou pulled out the knife from his belt and the locket. "I'm going to open the door Winter okay?" He asked as he looked at where Winter was. She wasn't standing, instead she was on the ground seemingly half asleep. Ryou was finding him self that way, his eye dropping as he fell to the ground "No!" Ryou wanted to shout "Stay awake Ryou! You need to protect Winter!" but, something pulled him into the darkness. The next thing he knew when he was up, Ryou had blood all the way up and down his arms, on his face, his hands, even blood soaked his pants up to his knees. The knife was gone and plunged into the shoulder of Vertigo, he was still in the library and he screamed louder than he had ever. Looking around Ryou backed into the corner, Winter was against the door blood coming from a cut on her cheek. Crawling up to her Ryou cupped her face and looked into the pools of icy blue eyes, "Winter?" Ryou whispered as she looked up at him and whispered "You know what to do, go let her soul into the locket I'll tell you where Malik is then." Ryou nodded and began to leave but, before he did he gave her a quick passionate kiss on the lips and went to take care of Vertigo. Once Vertigo was finished Ryou went back to Winter "Malik is in the master bed room. I cannot come with you though, Vertigo was hard to take down. Father will be even harder, use to Music box on him. He'll be frozen in the memory of mother and that will let you pull him into the after life." Ryou nodded as Winter pushed him off "I'll be waiting." she whispered after him.

Ryou sprinted up the steps and pulled out the music box and the locket, he was in the front of the master bed room when the door opened. Ryou gasped at the even more gruesome sight. Malik was there in the corner, bleeding heavily as a pair of chains were wrapped around his arms and legs. The room was gruesome, the bed over turned and torn apart feathers falling from the ceilings, windows were cracked, the mirror was broken, books were strewn about and the pages ripped out as the book shelves that once contained them were broken into sharp pieces. There were clothes torn apart and sheets that had blood all over them. Celia was behind him as the door slammed shut as soon as Ryou stepped into the room. "Malik!" Ryou said as he rushed to his friends side. Malik seemed half dead but still looked at Ryou and managed to whisper hoarsely "Ryou…. look… behind you…. he's here.". There was the feeling again, only this time it ramped off the scale Ryou had set up. The energy gathered and focused around a certain point as a voice whispered in a sing song voice _the master has returned, master of the house, master master master, sick twisted man. Killed his only family. Master master master. _"STOP IT!" Ryou shouted as the voices died off. There in the center of the room was Winter's father. Tall and menacing the man was as he quickly crossed the room and slapped Ryou across the face, he stumbled and fell into a piled of feathers and blood. The music box was in his hand as he stood winding it, he opened the lid and 'swan lake' began to play. This froze the man as Ryou set the box down and opened the locket, it was hard getting the man to start fading but before he left he told Ryou something "Don't trust Winter boy. She's as bad as her mother. Lovely little bad one." Ryou took this as a distorted message. Tossing the locket and the box into the bag he took with him Ryou ran to Malik and helped him to the groundskeepers house where Yugi and the others began to take him to the hospital. "Aren't you coming with?" Tristan asked as Ryou shook his head, "I still have Celia to take care of. I'll be back by tomorrow. Don't worry for me." Ryou said as he walked back to the manor.

Finding Celia was easy as she wanted to leave, Ryou actually found her on the roof waiting for him. "When father left, I feel alone. I want to be with him again." With that Ryou gave Celia her last wish. As soon as Celia was done Ryou fell to the ground as wind centered around one point creating a whirlwind. The power coming from this was way way stronger than Winter's father as lightning flashed and thunder rolled through the forest. Rain began falling as the world outside of the manor became darker than night, there was a brilliant flash and Winter stood again with her back to him, head down and arms covered in blood. Drops of the red liquid dripped onto the ground "Winter? Winter are you okay?" Ryou asked as Winter lifted her head and laughed sinisterly. She turned and smiled crazily "You know what's going to happen now Ryou!" She shouted as she ran towards Ryou a bloodied knife in her hand, Ryou didn't have time to think, he ran from her. Down the steps and into the kitchen, Ryou grabbed a knife and began running for his life towards the lake with Winter screaming behind him "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS! JUST LIKE I KILLED MY FAMILY!" Ryou's mind went blank as he ran, So it was Winter. She killed everyone and now she was going to kill him.

Ryou broke out of the trees and stopped at the lake catching his breath. There was rustling through the trees as Winter came out and stopped "I FOUND YOU!" She screamed joyfully as another sinister laugh echoed about the trees. Winter ran at him with the knife as Ryou blocked her attacks with his knife. "You want to know why I killed my family!" Winter shouted "Because they ignored me! Because they forgot about me! I was so lonely! Only one girl can take so much! I killed them all in their worst fears! Then my father raped me and then killed me! So I killed him just like I'm going to kill you!" Winter made a last attempt at attacking Ryou but, there was a split second and Ryou was on top of her…. his knife plunged into her heart and blood coming from it. There was the Winter he knew, the one he loved. She was crying "thank you Ryou. You just made a dead girl happy." Ryou found that he was crying "But Winter, you can't leave! I love you! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Winter put her hand to his lips and then kissed him passionately. "So do I but, I'm dead. My time has ended. Thank you." With that she faded away into water. Ryou stood and wiped the tears away from his eyes with a blood soaked hand. The sky became lighter as the lake gleamed before him. Ryou knew what he had to do pulling out Winter's treasure and heading towards the middle of the lake. He made it to the island and opened the door to the small shack dragging out Winter's body Ryou felt a fresh set of tears coming on, he held them back he needed to get a grip and finish what he was doing. He took Winter's body and set it in the halfway point to the back of the lake, covered it in flowers and let Winter sink in beauty for the last time. Ryou then turned and hid his eyes behind his hair, replacing the treasure back on the shack desk Ryou walked slowly to the cabin and started a hot shower. As soon as he stepped into the hot water though Ryou started crying, the tears coming down in long streaks as he sobbed and moaned. The blood from Winter and Yugi and Malik and everyone else washing away into the water with his tears, the same thing would happen to his memories after a long time. Stepping out of the shower Ryou looked at Winter's locket and put it on, something told him to go back to the manor. He didn't want to but he ended up going in there anyways. When he walked into the front Ryou gapped at the sight, the manor was clean. No blood or bodies, it even looked as it would have in it's heyday. Ryou walked out and pulled out the old wood from the stairs, it wasn't damp at all as he laid it out for a fire. At that time Yugi and the others besides Malik had returned, Malik was okay and recovering at the hospital he would be out in a few days once he could walk again.

That night Ryou gathered everyone in a circle around the pile of wood and used a single match to burn the diary, he then tossed the burning book onto the wood as it quickly caught. There in the flames Ryou swore he saw Winter with her family all together and happy. He smiled, he knew the girl he loved was safe. Ryou looked to the sky and saw all the stars out that night, it comforted him as he closed his eyes one last time before falling to sleep.

***Sniffle* *Sniffle* I hope you liked it, it was sad how it turned out though. Ryou killing her and finding out that Winter was lonely and all she wanted was a friend. That was sad. Other than that I'll see you tomorrow with the last chapter! Bye! R&**


	11. Day 11 The Final Day

**Hello. YES I KNOW IT'S LATE! The final chapter is late because the laptop battery (it's the only computer that works) decided to EXPLODE on the table. I'm alright and the computer is fine but we ended up getting a new battery and table... other than that. Well this is the final day of Eternal Winter. I loved the reviews I got and I hope that people keep reviewing this as it makes me happy to go onto fanfiction and find this stuff. I'm going to start with the disclaimer so you readers can get started on reading this.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh I only own the plot line of this fanfic and Winter.<strong>

Ryou smiled sadly at the car pulling up the drive way, almost the very next day after the manor was back to normal, a family bought the manor and was in the process of moving in. Flicking at a strand of hair in his face Ryou stepped off the porch and opened the door to the car, out stepped a woman with long brown hair and vermillion eyes. Behind her was the woman's husband, a man with short unruly brown hair and kind green eyes. "I never guessed the manor looked so alive! Oh I'm sorry, my name is Mara. I'm the great grand daughter or Edgar Eternal! " The woman exclaimed as she eye'd the house. Ryou had been helping her husband drag in suitcase after suitcase to the rooms. Once everything was in the couple retreated into the manor as a girl about a year younger than Ryou stepped out of the car "I'm glad those two are gone." She muttered as she pulled back the hood of her gray hoodie. Ryou almost gasped in shock, she looked exactly like Winter right down to the cold blue eyes. "Are you going to stop staring at me and show me around?" She asked impatiently as Ryou shook out of his trance. "Why of course." Ryou said as he led the look a like through the manor, in the end the two ended up some how at the lake.  
>"We never really introduced ourselves have we." The girl said as she held out her hand "My names Hiver Jayne Eternal(1)." Ryou took Hiver's hand and shook it "Ryou Bakura." He replied as he and Hiver made their way back to the manor. At the front step Hiver stopped before heading in, Ryou again was caught off guard as she whipped around and planted her lips on his. Eventually he found that he was holding her by the lower back and that Hiver had slipped her arms around his neck. Almost as soon as the kiss had started it had ended, Hiver turned and walked into the manor. The door closing softly and lightly behind her, Ryou stood there and smiled. He understood why Hiver liked him because she was exactly like Winter, because she knew about the feelings he had for Winter from the tour. Ryou turned and headed for the groundskeepers house, maybe he could get to know this Winter better.<p>

_END!_

**Yay! I finished it! Yes again I know it's late and short but who cares it's an epilog... I just failed at spelling that word... other than that I loved writing this and I hoped you liked it too. I should explain the number 1 we read. Hiver Jayne Eternal, Hiver means Winter in French and if you take N and E off of Jayne you've got Winter Jay Eternal... a little something I thought needed to be explained. I'll see you in the other fanfics! Bye! **


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